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steph82's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
bookph1le's review
2.0
This quote comes from about 16% into the book, and it's emblematic of some of my biggest problems with this book:
Pam took a sip and licked her lips with her tongue.
Um, what else is she supposed to lick her lips with?
Clunkers like this appear throughout the book, making me wonder why no one bothered to clean them up. But, then, the writing in general in this book, while not terrible, has a lot of rough edges. Not every book must feature flowing, lyrical prose but when I read lines like the one quoted above, they yank me out of the story because I can't help but focus on how bad they sound.
As for the story itself, it has interesting elements. Had everything coalesced better, I think this could have been a really good mystery. Instead it's far too obvious, which steals away from the tension.
Plus, the female characters are universally treated in ways that really stuck in my craw. Every one of them is described in sexual terms that felt very, very creepy to me and that made Frost seem somewhat creepy as well. Not to mention that the female character's physical appearance was brought up during points in the novel where it felt oddly out of place. And it really got my goat that Jess is described as a size 10, and then a few pages later Frankie thinks of her as "heavyset." Size 10 is heavyset? And people wonder why so many women develop eating disorders.
As for Frost, yeah. I know the whole cop breaking the rules is a thing. I know there are even female cops who fall into this trope. But Frost does so many things here that are so wrong that it was hard for me to suspend my disbelief. As for his personality, other than the fact that he has a beard and a cat, I really couldn't tell you anything more about him. He's about as inspiring as a carton of fat-free vanilla ice cream made with artificial vanilla.
Pam took a sip and licked her lips with her tongue.
Um, what else is she supposed to lick her lips with?
Clunkers like this appear throughout the book, making me wonder why no one bothered to clean them up. But, then, the writing in general in this book, while not terrible, has a lot of rough edges. Not every book must feature flowing, lyrical prose but when I read lines like the one quoted above, they yank me out of the story because I can't help but focus on how bad they sound.
As for the story itself, it has interesting elements. Had everything coalesced better, I think this could have been a really good mystery. Instead it's far too obvious, which steals away from the tension.
Plus, the female characters are universally treated in ways that really stuck in my craw. Every one of them is described in sexual terms that felt very, very creepy to me and that made Frost seem somewhat creepy as well. Not to mention that the female character's physical appearance was brought up during points in the novel where it felt oddly out of place. And it really got my goat that Jess is described as a size 10, and then a few pages later Frankie thinks of her as "heavyset." Size 10 is heavyset? And people wonder why so many women develop eating disorders.
As for Frost, yeah. I know the whole cop breaking the rules is a thing. I know there are even female cops who fall into this trope. But Frost does so many things here that are so wrong that it was hard for me to suspend my disbelief. As for his personality, other than the fact that he has a beard and a cat, I really couldn't tell you anything more about him. He's about as inspiring as a carton of fat-free vanilla ice cream made with artificial vanilla.
cutenanya's review
4.0
The Night Bird is a solid read, with characters who have good intentions but make regrettable decisions. The story is fast-paced and thrilling enough to keep me reading and guessing who the real murderer is. Two aspects of this book bother me though:
1) This book makes it seem awfully easy to temper with human memory which seems a bit far-fetched and out of touch with reality. While human memory may be susceptible to manipulations (as documented in eyewitness testimony research), I'm still not convinced memory can be erased and replaced with a snap of the fingers (or a few sessions of therapy in the case of this book). I think this book is taking memory reconstruction to a whole new level that is beyond my liking.
2) The police procedures described in this book deviate too much from reality and make the main characters appear reckless. In fact, the majority of the characters got hurt because they were irrational and took unnecessary risks.
Despite my ramblings about this book, I am still looking forward to the next Frost Easton book and hopefully the story will be more realistic and Frost would have matured more. I also wonder if Frankie will stay in the picture though I hope she will be gone as she is not on my favorite list.
1) This book makes it seem awfully easy to temper with human memory which seems a bit far-fetched and out of touch with reality. While human memory may be susceptible to manipulations (as documented in eyewitness testimony research), I'm still not convinced memory can be erased and replaced with a snap of the fingers (or a few sessions of therapy in the case of this book). I think this book is taking memory reconstruction to a whole new level that is beyond my liking.
2) The police procedures described in this book deviate too much from reality and make the main characters appear reckless. In fact, the majority of the characters got hurt because they were irrational and took unnecessary risks.
Spoiler
For example, Lucy got injured because she insisted upon seeing Stein after Frost repeatedly warned her of the potential danger. Frost also should have waited for backup before confronting suspects. His actions not only jeopardized the case but also brought injuries to himself. Still, none puzzled me as much as Frankie's plead for his husband to erase her memory. It maybe hard to watch your sister kill your father, but it would be damn stupid to just forget and pretend nothing had happened. At the very least, kick the murderess out of the house before wiping the memory. Keeping a murderess close by and not remembering is extremely dangerous and I thought a brilliant psychiatrist would know better than to put herself and her husband at risk.Despite my ramblings about this book, I am still looking forward to the next Frost Easton book and hopefully the story will be more realistic and Frost would have matured more. I also wonder if Frankie will stay in the picture though I hope she will be gone as she is not on my favorite list.
avareadssometimes's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
clintonreissig's review
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Interesting plot but it just didn't do anything for me. Twists seemed like low hanging fruit and everything that happened was convenient. In a field as broad and complex as psychiatry, I thought the story oversimplified and reduced a lot of material. The ending had high moments but seemed to drag on. The story reads quick enough though and wasn't terrible. Two stars for me.
lehnert's review
5.0
Great suspense
This book kept me interested the entire time. The plot with twists were fabulous. Would highly recommend this book to readers.
This book kept me interested the entire time. The plot with twists were fabulous. Would highly recommend this book to readers.
caitpecan's review
1.0
I wanted to be so fair about this review, but each turn of the page was a pain. The story became increasingly outlandish, a memory wiping doctor named “Frankie Stein,” a cat with wealth it would never understand that rented a home to a cop who seems to have no job other than chasing after 25 year olds. The biggest issue I had at the beginning was the constant whistling, after a dead woman’s friend mentioned she was “happy and whistling” the day before. It was ridiculous. Every sentence was full of descriptive language that felt like a journal from my grade school english classes. I finished the book out of spite, and it was hard. The characters are poorly written, if at all. The female characters all whittled down to “beautiful and commanding of a room, and they know it” or “average and regular and chasing a pipe dream.” While the male MC seems to thing he oozes sex appeal and charisma, rather than being so awkward and rude the entire time. Do NOT get me started on kissing a 25 year old vulnerable woman after her friend died, she went through traumatic events, and he ADMITS that she reminds him of his DEAD sister.